The Ties That Bind Us
by MarinePixie
Summary: Elizabeth 'Effy' Scott wasn't what she seemed, on the outside her life may have seemed perfect but in reality it was far from it. The youngest child of Dan Scott, Effy lived two very different lives to escape from her family and basketball. Effy needed help, someone to save her from herself. Effy needed her big brothers. Too bad they currently hated each other...
1. Chapter 1

_"There's a cold heart, buried beneath, and warm blood, running deep. Secrets are mine to keep protected by silent sleep."_

_Sander Bohlke, The Weight of Us._

* * *

It was almost 9am when Elizabeth Rose Scott more commonly known as Effy scaled the side of her house, she had been out all night and was just returning now before any of her family had realized she was gone. They hadn't yet realized that Effy spent more time sneaking out of the house then she was actually in it as Effy always made sure that she got back before anyone realized so her parents were none the wiser. Although it had been easier to sneak out then it was to sneak in as Effie had a skateboard in one arm along with her gym bag but she had done this so many times that it was like riding a bike. Glancing at her watch Effy couldn't help but notice she was cutting it rather fine today, she still had to get ready for no doubt a long day of school. When she reached her bedroom window, Effie pushed the unlocked window up, tossed the skateboard in first before climbing through the window trying to make as little sound as possible. Effy's bedroom looked just as she left it which meant no one else had been in here since she had left to go and cheer at last night's game. Which was very good as the last thing Effy needed was for her parents to suddenly decide to check up on her to find that she had pulled a Houdini act

"Where the hell have you been?"

Effy almost jumped out of her skin as she had noticed that anyone was in her bedroom until she heard her brother's voice. Looking to her left Effy found her three minutes older brother Nathan sitting at her desk with a face like a sour lemon. Effie just rolled her eyes as she had no idea why Nathan seemed to care all of a sudden about what she was doing, he had been well aware of Effy's frequent all night trips ever since the start summer and not one had he ever said anything about it. That was the thing about Nathan and Effy, the two of them may be twins but they acted like two people who just lived in the same house. They were as different as day and night. "I've been out, clearly…"

"You know dad almost found out that you weren't here." Nathan angrily stated as Effy went to her dressing table, picked up a wet wipe and began removing her make up.

"I doubt it as that would mean dad would actually have to pay attention to anything I do which is never going to happen and mom is busy with work as per usual so I doubt I was remotely close to being busted Nate." Effy scoffed as she went about removing her upper ear piercing, her parents didn't exactly know about it and if they did they would most likely freak out about it. Well Effy assumed that her parents would be bothered about it but then again maybe not as she was the black sheep in her house. Nathan was the golden child who got all the attention whilst Effy was the spare one who generally flew under the radar and dealt with her parents every few days at best. Hence why she was able to lead two different lives without anyone except Nathan knowing and even then he didn't know the extent of it.

"Yeah well he was actually paying attention for once last night Lizzy." Nathan sneered and Effy grimaced as she hated being called Lizzy, sure her name was Elizabeth but family and friends tended to call her Effy otherwise she was Liz Scott.

"What did you do?" Effy demanded as she went to her chest of draws and grabbed an old t-shirt and some sweat pants.

"Why is this about me?"

"When is it not about you Nathan? Everything in this house revolves around you and basketball which means I'm generally ignored most of the time. Not that I mind too much as that means dad is breathing down my neck except to check that I'm still alive and not bringing name to the Scott name. Except for when you screw up somehow and dad for reasons decides to pay attention to his next closest child and make sure I'm behaving myself…" Effy retorted referring to how her and Nathan had an older brother who was barely even older than them. Lucas was three months older than them and lived with his mother and the three of them had next to no contact with each other. In Effy's house it was like he didn't even exist but the whole town knew of Dan's Scott's love child.

"Fine if you must know the team and I decided to have a little after party to celebrate last night's victory with a few of the cheerleaders and we may have borrowed a school bus and we ended up getting busted. The entire team is being called in by Turner…" Nathan reluctantly stated and Effy couldn't believe her eyes, only her brother would be stupid enough to steal a school bus and get busted with it, no doubt with alcohol. It was stupid and dumb and now Effy had to worry about their dad checking up on her which meant no late night excursions for a few days.

"That was stupid." Effy couldn't help but point out and Nathan just scowled at her, typical behaviour between the Scott twins. The only things they knew how to do to each other was antagonize each other and keep a safe distance away from each other most of the times. The closest they got to having an actual relationship was no ratting on each other about the not so well behaved antics that they both got up to. Other than that the only things that Nathan and Elizabeth Scott shared was the same dark hair and blue eyes, along with a bathroom. Apart from that they practically lived separate lives that matched the separate and individual people that they both were.

"I don't need your smart ass comments Eff."

"Sure you do, that's why I'm here so turn around." Effy instructed and doing what he was told Nathan turned around to face Effy's computer whilst she got changed out of her clothes from the last few hours and into her t-shirt and sweat combo. Over the last couple of months Effy had learnt that the only way her parents weren't going to pick up on the fact that she barely spent anytime at home because she was sneaking out was if she did nothing out of the ordinary. So she would go up to her room and wait forty minutes or so before leaving and when she came home, she'd remove any trace of what she had been doing, put on pajamas and make it look like her bed had been slept in. That was all before Effy went down to join her family for breakfast. Effy had the whole thing down to an art. "I'm done."

"And where exactly were you last night?" Nathan asked much to Effy's surprise as her brother was so arrogant and self centered that if she died tomorrow he wouldn't even notice. Until maybe a month later or when he needed something for her.

"Like you care and even if there was some part of you that actually cared about someone other than yourself for once, I'd be more worried about Turner suspending your dumb ass Nathan." Effy wearily replied, pulling her dark hair up into a messy bun before rubbing at her eyes. God she was exhausted and yet she had a ton of things to be doing today including playing a game of tennis. But the day must go one so rather reluctantly Effy wordlessly left her room and headed down to the kitchen where she found her father sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper.

"What happened to you last night after the game?" Dan questioned without even a simple morning greeting but Effy was more than used to it. Her dad's life revolved around basketball and getting Nathan to go where he hadn't been able to; play college ball and on further than that. Effy would have liked basketball if it wasn't for the fact that it practically ran the Scott's lives and so she wasn't interested in the slightest which meant she was the most important thing. The only reason why Effy went to the games was because she was a cheerleader, if it wasn't for that she knew her dad would drag her to the court out of family duty.

"I came home straight after and studied for a bit before going to bed, I was asleep by quarter past ten." Effy casually lied as she could spot her father attempting to subtly roll his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking. Because of her lack of interest in basketball Effy was deemed as important as Nathan or even relevant. Dan Scott paid his daughter no attention and Effy returned the favour because all he saw her as was a quite, plain and boring who was ever polite and always did her homework, went to bed early and never got into trouble. To her parents Effy was the quite good girl who could and would do nothing wrong. It was the way Effy liked things, especially when her father fell for her countless lies which was way too easy for Effy these days. She spent more time lying to her father than she did talking to him and that was the way Elizabeth Scott liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

_"At night we're waking up the neighbours while we sing away the blues, making sure that we're remembered yeah, cause we all matter too. If the truth has been forbidden then we're breaking all the rules, so come on, come on, come on, come on. Lets get the tv and the radio to play our tune again, its 'bout time we got some airplay of our version of events."_

_Emeli Sande, Read All About It (Part III)_

* * *

Tree Hill made Effy feel like she was a very small fish in a rather big pond which was kind of ironic in the slightest as Tree Hill was one of those small towns where everyone kind of knew each other in some round about way. Effy was pretty much invisible not only to her family but pretty much everyone else in town, she had a couple of people who she could call friends and people knew of her as Liz Scott, cheerleader and Nathan Scott's twin sister. But apart from that? Effy lived in relative anonymity and she liked that most of the time. However there were occasions that she wanted to be seen, she wanted to be seen as more than Nathan's sister or the girl who lived down the hall by her family. She wanted to be seen as actual person, Effy wanted to be seen as Effy Scott; someone who actual existed. Effy didn't mean that in terms of popularity but just in terms of being seen as someone in her own right especially by her family, because she wasn't obsessed by basketball she was deemed kind of irrelevant by her family. In particular her dad and her own twin brother, then her mother was always busy working to ever be around when Effy needed someone.

As she skated around the riverfront Effy came to a stop when she noticed a group of boys playing basketball on the outside court and it took her mere moments to recognize one of the boys as Lucas Scott. Her half brother who older than Effy and Nathan by only a hundred days. Their dad Dan had gotten Lucas' mom pregnant after high school and left her for Effy's mom and ended up getting her pregnant too. They hadn't grown up together given Dan's subsequent abandonment of Lucas and unwillingness to acknowledge his eldest son. In the Scott, they didn't talk about Lucas they pretend that he didn't exist and even when he was mentioned they acted like he wasn't related to them. It was weird but that's how the dysfunctional Scott family operated. They had all kept their distance from each other up until the other day, after Nathan's joyride half the basketball team were suspended for the rest of the season. Somehow Nathan and his idiot friend Tim got off without anything and Effy knew that her father had something to do with it as Dan couldn't have anything ruin the plans he had for Nathan. But then Coach Durham had approached Lucas about playing for the Ravens and that sent everything to hell, both Nathan and Dan were losing their minds over it and Effy thought it was damn hilarious. And now Nathan had challenged Lucas to a one on one game to prevent Lucas from joining the team. From what Effy heard Lucas hadn't accepted yet. Intrigued by the whole thing Effy picked up her skateboard and made her way closer to the court to watch the group of boys play. To Effy's surprise Lucas was good, better than very good and perhaps even better than Nathan. Eventually one of the boys noticed Effy and brought it to Lucas' attention and Effy watched as her brother eyed her carefully before making his way over to her.

"You here to tell me not to join the team? That I'm not wanted?" Lucas began in a polite yet hostile tone of voice and Effy was expecting that, people tended to think that her and Nathan were the same just because they were twins. They couldn't be further from the truth if they tried…

"Do I look like Nathan?" Effy questioned before realizing the silliness of that question as whilst they were fraternal twins, her and Nathan did look very alike except a few difference like Nathan was a pig headed jerk and Effy wasn't. "Forget I said that actually because I do look like him but I'm not here to tell you what to do. There's that thing called free will and I'm actually quite into it so you can do whatever you want…"

"Oh…" Lucas wearily replied as he ran his hand through his short blonde hair and Effy couldn't help smile.

"Although I will say that I'm kind of very intrigued about this all especially this challenge Nathan has issued you. It's very old testament with the whole Cain and Abel thing you have going on. I know you have no reason to listen to me but I'm going to throw in my cents, I think you should play Nathan. This may not be of any worth to you but I think Nathan is scared of you knocking him off his high golden throne especially since Coach Durham asked you to join the team. He's getting all pissy because he's scared that someone may actually be better than him and he doesn't wants that. Nathan thinks that if he beats you then everything will go back to normal with him being the golden boy and pride of the team." Effy explained and she watched as Lucas didn't say anything for a few moments.

"And what do you think?" Lucas asked and Effy was actually impressed that he thought her opinion was of some worth as their father didn't seem to think it was. Neither did Nathan.

"Me? I think you could kick Nathan's ass."

"He's your brother." Lucas couldn't help but point out in a rather confused manner as Effy had pretty much stated she was hoping that Nathan would lose if Lucas agreed to this one on one game that Nathan had challenged him.

Effy couldn't help but wearily laugh. "Nath and I may be twins but what you've got to understand Lucas is that appearances are deceiving. Nathan and I may look alike and everyone assumes that twins are always close but truthfully? We couldn't be further apart if we try and besides you're my brother too. Plus Nathan needs a serious ass kicking in order to be taken down a peg or two and learn some humility. I've tried but he won't listen to me as since my life doesn't revolve around basketball my opinion is deemed worthless. It seems like I'm actually the black sheep of the family…"

"You really are not like him, are you?"

"What gave it away? The skateboard or the fact that I'm not an asshole and I'm not the biggest fan of basketball despite the fact I'm a Scott." Effy quipped with a smirk on her face as she was very much enjoying this conversation as it went on. She had never really talked to Lucas before and now Effy was wondering why she hadn't earlier as he needed like a nice guy who had the misfortune of sharing the same brother and father as her. Although Lucas had the fortune of not having to live under the same room as either of them, which is probably why he was most likely the most sanest of all of Dan Scott's three children. Effy couldn't help envy Lucas as she'd probably be a bit more normal if didn't live with her insane family.

"No. It's something else…" Lucas cryptically replied and Effy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she slowly began to back away, as much as she would have loved to sit here and chat all day she had things to do. "You know you didn't have to do this Elizabeth."

"Do what?" Effy called out as she continued to walk backwards.

"This. That I can beat Nathan and how I deserve to be on the team no matter what he says." Lucas replied and Effy just shook her head, Lucas didn't understand but maybe he would someday. She wanted to him to know that Nathan wasn't the only Scott who could play basketball in Tree Hill, that he couldn't control anything and not let anyone else have the slightest bit of attention given towards then. Lucas need to know something that neither Nathan or their father had ever told her; that she was good enough to do anything she wanted and that she had a choice. Not to mention Lucas had managed to do something that Effy had never been able to manage and that was getting her family's attention.

"Yeah I did and don't call me Elizabeth, call me Effy."

* * *

Because of this whole Nathan issuing Lucas a challenging thing and the wagers that had been set thing in the Scott house had been slightly on edge, Effy's dad was outraged that Nathan wagered to quit the team if Nathan had won and Effy knew that the idea of his pride and joy no longer on the ravens was enough to send Dan Scott to an early grave. That was more than enough to ensure that Effy was completely ignored, she could be walking around the house naked or throwing a party and her father wouldn't have noticed. Effy on the hand was rather nonchalant about the game as apart from hoping that Nathan would get his ass handed to him by Lucas, she really couldn't be bothered to care as she had better things to be worrying about. Such as her mother wasn't coming home for another week which meant that Effy was stuck with Dan and Nathan paying her no piece of mind for another seven days. Effy was already planning on spending as little time at home as possible over the next few days as she knew no one was going to notice in the slightest. Effy could die and her family wouldn't notice for about a month at least. Glancing at her watch Effy noted that there was at least an hour before the midnight game, Effy would rather not be there but since her brothers were having the hotly anticipated biblical showdown she had to be there. Even her dad had been on case about going to the game saying how Effy had to show support for Nathan. Effy actually reminded her dad that Nathan wasn't just playing anyone but he was playing his other son. But as per usual Dan brushed Effy off and the subject was dropped completely. Aimlessly walking around the house to kill sometime Effy walked past her dad who was having yet another conversation with Nathan, Effy thought it was going to be another lecture about how important it was for him to win this game. But it wasn't.

"If I had wanted a daughter, I'd adopt one." Dan stated and Effy didn't have to see her face to know that it had probably dropped as her heart was currently sitting at her feet. Effy had always known that Nathan was the favourite in the family; her dad had made no attempt of hiding it. Most of the time Effy often thought of herself as the spare part of the family that was only brought out for family photos and to show unity in Team Nathan. No matter what Effy knew that her parents specifically her dad loved her in some weird way, it may not be as much as he loved Nathan but it was some small amount. But he had never outright stated that he had never wanted her. Effy's eyes met Nathan and she could see that even he was taken back by what their dad had said.

"Dad…" Nathan began.

"What?"

"Eff's behind you." Nathan revealed and from where Effy stood she could see her dad tense, no doubt that was the last thing he was expecting.

"Hi daddy." Effy hoarsely said, her voice crackling but she was loud enough to catch her dad's attention and Dan turned around and seemed to be shocked that Effy had been right there and had heard him. Effy honestly thought that her heart was breaking in this moment, it was probably the harshest thing she had ever heard in her life in regards to herself. And she couldn't believe that her own father had said it, if it had been Nathan then Effy wouldn't have blinked an eye as the two of them argued constantly and Nathan always threw out stuff like that especially when they were kids. Effy always just used to ignore him but now she realized that Nathan had been right all along.

"Elizabeth, I didn't meant that…" Dan began clearly trying to take back what he said but Effy couldn't unheard what she had heard. As much as her dad would try and deny it, he had said it and there must be some truth to that. It explained why he never wanted to do anything with her and why he preferred spending time with his beloved time with Nathan. It was because he had never wanted her, she was just a spare child that had come into the world a few minutes after Nathan the golden child.

"Sure you didn't dad, I'd believe if it wasn't the truth. I always knew that I didn't fit in to your grand little plan, that I wasn't special enough for you to pay me a tiny bit off attention jut for five minutes. But I never thought that you didn't ever want me, I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry that for the last sixteen years you've had to deal with a daughter that you didn't Dan, so I'm just going to go now. Maybe I'll even join the other child you didn't want. Perhaps he'll want me and we can make a club, the Dan Scott doesn't want us club!" Effy angrily snapped before turning her back on her dad and storming upstairs to her bedroom, furiously rubbing at her eyes as she did. When she got to her bedroom Effy slammed the door behind her. Heading towards her stereo Effy turned it on and put the volume on small blast. After what she heard Effy wasn't going to stick around here, Dan Scott could screw himself now. All this time Effy had been sneaking out in hopes of getting her parents attention but now she was going to stop carrying. Effy was going to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and not care what anyone else thought. They could all screw themselves; if they didn't care then she'd go find people who cared. Grabbing her backpack, Effy emptied out half the contents and replaced it with a book, torch and a jumper. Walking over to the window that she frequently used to sneak out of, Effy opened it and tossed her backpack out of the window and into the back garden followed by her skateboard. Effy gave one final glance at her bedroom before she climbed out of the window and into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over ,but had me believing it was always something that I'd done. But I don't wanna live that way…"_

_ Gotye & Kimbra, Somebody That I Used To Know_

* * *

Effy had no idea what time of the day it was as she aimlessly skated around Tree Hill, her phone had died a long time ago and she wasn't really into wearing watches. All Effy really knew was that she was tired but she couldn't go home because if she went home then she'd have to face Dan and she didn't want to see him. There was really no where else to go as Dan, if he knew where to look her would most likely find her or attempt to get Nathan to track down her and Effy didn't want that. Which is why she hadn't been home since she had taken off last night. She wanted to be alone and get her thoughts together. Correction get herself together as what she had heard Dan say had changed everything for her, Effy knew that Dan would no doubt play it off as some kind of stupid and ill timed joke when Effy eventually went home but she wasn't going to believe it. There was some part of her father that actually meant what he said, Effy knew that and no doubt so did Dan despite the fact he would probably deny such a thing. Either way Effy had already cruised by the house round about 2am and smashed all the windows of her dad's cars with her skateboard. It was pretty juvenile Effy would admit that but her dad deserved it because there was no way in hell Dan Scott could say something like that about her and get away with it. Effy didn't care that he was her father, if it had been Nathan or her mom she would have done the exact same thing. Effy wanted her father to know that regardless of whether he wanted her or not, she was here and she was not no shrinking violet who would be easily be quieted.

"Elizabeth?"

Frowning at the use of her full name Effy came to a stop on her skateboard and wearily glanced around to find who had called her and there, looking up from under the hood of a car was Uncle Keith, her demented father's sane older brother and all round general nice guy and local mechanic. "Oh, hey Uncle Keith."

"About time kiddo, I called out your name a few times and you never responded as you seemed to be in your own little world so I tried Elizabeth and straight away it got your attention." Keith stated as he pulled back from underneath the car and made his way towards Effy and she bent down and picked up her skateboard from off the ground and tucked it under her left arm.

"Sorry I'm just a little distracted that's all Uncle Keith." Effy began as walked forward so she culd meet her uncle halfway but she stopped when she noticed that Keith wasn't looking at her but rather her hand.

"Eff, what happened to your hand?" Keith questioned and Effy looked at the top her right right which was covered in grazes, not to mention her knuckles which were all banged up. Effy wasn't really sure what had happened. She knew it had happened sometime after she had snuck out the house and sunrise but she couldn't exactly put an time on it. Whatever pain there had been, it was long gone apart from the occasional twinge whenever she actually did any major movements with her hand but apart from that it was fine. There was no need for any concern on anyone's part.

"Skateboarding, I wasn't paying attention and I feel off the board sideways and I landed funny, luckily my hand took the brunt off it." Effy lied and it sure as hell looked like Keith didn't believe her but he didn't call her out on it. Instead he turned his head so he was backing facing his garage.

"Luke, bring out the first aid kit!

"Uncle Keith, really my hand is fine it's only a couple of grazes…" Effy began in an effort to stop her uncle but Keith wasn't having any of it and gently he took Effy by the elbow and led her into the garage.

"No it's not Effy, it needs to be taken care of so we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy was is taking care of your hand here and the hard was is us going to the hospital." Keith firmly stated and Effy couldn't help but roll her eyes, it wasn't very often that her uncle put his foot down and played the authority figure but it seemed this was one of those rare times. Effy signed which signaled that she'd come and have her hand taken care of here as the last thing she wanted to do was go all the way to the hospital. As Keith brought Effy into the garage Lucas walked out of the office carrying the first aid kit in his hand the surprise that Effy was here at the garage was clear on his face. Given that Effy never tended to swing by the garage that often.

"Hey Effy…"

"Hi Lucas." Effy replied with a small smile.

"Luke can you clean up Effy's hand, it seems like your sister has had an accident with that skateboard of hers." Keith asked and Effy was surprised that her uncle had called her Lucas' sister. Even though it was true, neither Effy or Lucas was really used to be addressed as each other's siblings. It was weird but also very nice as Effy didn't want to pretend that Lucas wasn't anything to her like Dan had made them do all these years. The two of them were the children that Dan didn't want and as such Effy thought that the two of them should get to know each other. Just because Dan didn't want them, it didn't mean that they couldn't be friends and get on with their lives and ignore Dan just like he did to them

"Sure no problem." Lucas replied with a small before a frown appeared on his face and Effy glanced over her shoulder to see what he was looking at and to her shock she saw Dan. Well rather one of the cars from her dad's company with the Scott Motors plate on it, no doubt her dad was driving that given the damage that she had inflicted on his car in the early hours. So far from wanting to see him Effy ran behind a car that her uncle had been working on and ducked down behind it.

"Effy, what are you doing?" Keith asked.

"You haven't seen me." Effy quietly stated.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Please Uncle Keith, if my dad asks if you've seen please tell him you haven't I am begging you, please! I will explain everything to you after but please get rid of him and tell him you haven't seen me." Effy pleaded and Keith reluctantly nodded and Effy quick moved from where she was so she was behind the counter and out of sight. Once she as safely behind the counter Effy placed her good hand over her mouth because her dad could not hear, if he even heard a hint of her in the slightest then Dan would know that she was hear.

"Hey Danny. What brings you here twice in so many days." Keith asked in a nonchalant manner.

"Effy snuck out some point last night and she hasn't been home since, I got a call from the school saying that she hadn't turned up. Nathan hasn't heard from her and I can't get through to her, she wasn't any of my calls and now it's going straight to her message. I wondering if you've seen her at all, whether she's dropped by at all as I know how fond she is off you." Dan replied and Effy couldn't believe how calm and collected her father sounded as if nothing was wrong and seemingly unconcerned that his youngest child had been gone for at least fifteen hours. It just proved to Effy that her father had never really cared.

"No I haven't see her, it's unlike Effy to just take off without letting anyone know." Keith said and Effy was hoping like mad her dad would just leave as Lucas made his way behind the counter and stood right next to her. It was some how very reassuring to Effy in this moment, knowing that the one person that Dan didn't want was standing right by her side as she hide from what she had feared the most; rejection from her father.

"Have you seen her?" Dan questioned and judging by the reluctance in his voice Effy quickly realized that he was addressing Lucas for once.

"Who?" Lucas asked glancing briefly down at Effy before looking back up and Effy appreciated him feigning ignorance to the entire situation. Lucas had no reason to go along with this, he didn't really know he as well as Keith did. But yet here he was doing this for Effy.

"Your sister." Dan replied after a few moments, forcing himself to acknowledge and admit that Lucas was Effy's brother. But the tone in his voice suggested that he wasn't happy about doing so, but Effy didn't care. Anything her dad said or had an opinion on no longer mattered to Effy, Dan Scott could burn in hell for all Effy cared. He may be her father but Dan Scott was no longer her dad. That may sound harsh but Effy had long had enough with being irrelevant to her dad and not as important as Nathan so she was making him unimportant to her.

"No I haven't." Lucas pointedly stated.

"Keith if you see her, then tell Effy she had better get her ass home." Dan firmly stated and Effy could hear footsteps and then there was nothing. Moments later there was the sound of an engine starting and Effy could hear the sound of her dad's car leaving the garage.

"He's gone Effy, so do you want to explain to me what on earth is going on? Why you took off late last night and not let anyone know?" Keith questioned but Effy didn't get up from where she was sitting, she just stayed there as the memories of what happened last night came back to her. She had been playing it over and over in her head ever since she had snuck out but her dad being here in the garage just made all those negative and hurt feelings that she had pushed away to come flooding back and Effy could feel the hot tears prickling the corner of her eyes.

"Keith, you had better come here…" Lucas wearily called out as Effy furiously tried to wipe her eyes but it was no use, she was tired and very emotional and all Effy wanted to do was cry until no more tars came out and then sleep for the rest of her life.

"Eff… Effy? Elizabeth talk to me, tell me what's wrong?"

Effy managed to look up and see that Keith was standing right next to Lucas until he crouched down beside her. Her uncle was giving her look that was telling her that everything was going to be okay even when she thought it wasn't. "H-He doesn't want me Keith, h-he's never wanted me."

"Who? Your dad?" Keith questioned. "You know he loves you Effy."

"N-No he doesn't, I-I heard him tell Nathan last night that if he had wanted a daughter then he would have adopted one." Effy said clearing her shaky throat and wiping away her tears as best as she could. "Lucas isn't the only child that dad didn't want, I was just a spare that come along with Nathan but Dan couldn't disown me the same way he did Lucas. He has never wanted me Uncle Keith, I should have seen this earlier because of everything that goes on but it took my dad saying those actual words, that he never wanted me to make see the truth. Even Nathan doesn't want me around, it's like I'm invisible there…"

"Oh Effy–" Keith began in a sympathetic voice.

"–Who are they not to want you?" Lucas interrupted sitting down next to Effy and catching her by surprise as that was the last thing she was expecting him to say. "Who is Dan to say something like that to you Effy and make you feel that way? You are not a spare part or an extra that came along with Nathan, you are a person and no one should ever make you feel like your not one. You matter Elizabeth."

"Why are you being so nice to me? You barely know me…" Effy wearily questioned and she couldn't help but notice the small smile that quickly appeared on Lucas' face.

"Your right I barely know you, we barely know each other but I think you want to change that and so do I. Effy, over the years we've barely spoken to each other but the other day you came to the river court to tell me I was good enough to play for the raven and that I deserved to be there regardless of what Nathan thought. You want to know why I'm being so nice to you? It's because I was raised to be a nice person but most importantly you're my little sister and I hear that's what big brother's do. Be nice to their sister's no matter what."


	4. Chapter 4

_"Blisters and blood and the sun makes you blind, you don't let it eat till it can't help but be kind. 'Cause you know what's important with your back to the wall, you can break metal chains when your friends don't let you fall." _

_Fiction Plane, If Only_

* * *

Effy was avoiding her family. Ever since Keith had brought her back a few hours her dad had stopped by the garage Effy had been going out of her way to avoid her family. Effy was as made as ever and she knew a confrontation was coming between her and her father given the makeover she had given to his car but she'd deal with him when she was good and ready. Then there was Nathan, Effy just didn't want to see him in general so Effy made sure she was up before everyone else and left as soon as possible to get to school, only returning late in the evening to head straight to bed. Over the last couple of days Effy was actually only ever in the house to sleep and shower, the only time that she had been in the same room as Dan and Nathan was at yesterday's basketball game and that was only because she was cheering. As soon as the game was over Effy left the gym as quickly as possible. No one batted an eyelid at any of this because the entire student body was aware that Effy and Nathan had a rather strained relationship at the best of time. But now Effy was super pissed off at Nathan as well as Dan as earlier today Nathan got into a fight with Lucas after he called Lucas, a bastard referring to how he was born out of wedlock. Effy could not believe that her brother had actually said that so she was waiting outside the gym for Nathan to come out after practice so she could confront him. Effy was so mad that she was ready to have it out with both Nathan and Dan today and let them know how she really felt. Effy had been outside the gym for about close to ten minutes when Nathan finally made an appearance with his apparent best friend and dimwit Tim and a few other teammates.

"What the hell is wrong with you Nathan? I cannot believe what you did today, that was so out of order on so many levels." Effy immediately began as Nathan had barely taken about five steps out of the gym. She was starting to think that her brother was really starting to turn into their father.

"For god sake Effy not you too." Nathan scoffed and Effy couldn't believe that her brother was dumb enough to think that she wouldn't say anything about this. But then again Effy did call Nathan the lunk head basketball boy behind his back given that Nathan's head was pretty much empty most of the time hence why Effy was considered the smart one in the family.

"Er… yeah me too, did you really not think I wouldn't here about the crap you pulled today? Usually I don't care what you did Nathan, you could do all the stupid things in the world and I wouldn't but an eyelid. But who the hell do you think you are going around talking to people like that?" Effy demanded not caring that she was giving her brother a dressing down in front of most of his team, well the ones who hadn't been suspended. Effy sometimes couldn't believe that Nathan was captain as he was probably setting the worst example for his teammates to follow.

"This has nothing to do worth you Effy, so keep out." Tim began.

"Shut up Tim, if I wanted you to speak I would have waved a sausage in your face." Effy snapped and almost immediately Tim shut up and bowed his head down, Effy had a bit of a fiery temper and was prone to going off on one when she was really mad. Everyone always said that Effy had a very sharp tongue as you were never quite sure what was going to come out of Effy's mouth most of the time, let alone when she was mad. Once she had dealt with Tim, Effy turned her attention back towards Nathan as she wasn't finished with him yet. "You know what? I'm glad Lucas kicked your ass because you know what Nate, you're an asshole. A real asshole and I'm embarrassed to be your sister!"

"Effy, get out of my way." Nathan firmly stated in an attempt to get Effy to move but she didn't budge, she didn't even bat an eyelid as Nathan had no authority over her. Nathan couldn't say jump and Effy would ask how high. That wasn't how things worked, Effy had her own mind and she liked using it.

"I'm not most of your team mates Nathan, I won't let you boss me around and tell me what to do or when I'm allowed to speak. You don't get to dictate any of that because you're not the boss of me, or anyone else here!" Effy retorted and Nathan looked surprised and somewhat embarrassed about the way Effy was addressing him in public, in front of his friends and teammates. "Has the great Nathan Scott finally realized that just because he may be king of the basketball court doesn't make him the king of the world? All of us don't live in your world Nathan, you live on this planet with about 6 billion other people and you had better start realizing it and cut this whole crap out. Because I'll tell you know Nathan no one likes a jackass!"

"That's rich coming from Effy, at least I'm not–" Nathan began.

"At least I'm not? What? An actual somewhat decent human being?" Effy interrupted shutting Nathan down pretty quickly before giving him a shove. "I am so sick o your constant bullshit and you looking down at me and everyone else because you think your better than everyone else! Well let me tell you something Nathan Scott, if anyone is the bastard here then it is you!"

"Effy let it go. Just leave it he's not worth it, so let's go." Jake Jagielski, Effy's best friend and perhaps only truest friend said as he stepped in between her and Nathan.

"That's right Jagielski, go take her home or somewhere..." Nathan stated somewhat regaining his typical cocky and arrogant manner, acting like he hadn't just been embarrassed in front of his friends by his sister.

"I'm not doing this for her Nathan, I'm doing it for you. I'm stopping you from having your ass kicked by both your siblings." Jake tells Nathan with a smile before dragging Effy away by her wrist to the car park and once they were out of Nathan's earshot Jake really let into Effy. "What the hell were you thinking Elizabeth?"

Effy knew she was in serious trouble with Jake as he had just called her by her actual name in his angry voice, Jake was the only person who generally tended to Elizabeth. Since Effy had Effy as a nickname, Jake used Elizabeth as a general term of endearment with Effy and he was the only person she generally answered to if they called her Elizabeth. Jake would frequently call Effy by Elizabeth but generally he stuck to Eff or Effy unless she had done something wrong like now. Knowing she was in trouble Effy chose to ignore Jake's question. "I cannot believe I shared a uterus with that ignoramus for nine months! There is no way Nathan is my twin brother, I refuse to accept it!"

"Effy…"

"No it is not alright Jake, Nathan had no right to speak to Lucas like that and I am sick of it all. It so much crap, Nathan is full of it and he thinks that he can just get away with all of this because he's the captain of the team. Well it's not okay Jake, Nathan shouldn't be allowed to get away with any of this!" Effy angrily stated getting herself all worked up until Jake put his bag down and placed his hands on either side of Effy's shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"What is going on with you?" Jake asked and Effy couldn't help but snort in amusement as that was a funny notion, Nathan actually doing something for her? Pigs would sooner fly.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Effy lied.

"Elizabeth I know you and you are not fine, something is seriously up with you and this isn't about what happened today with Lucas and Nathan so talk to me Eff. That's what the two of us do, we talk about the real stuff, the things that actually mean something to us so talk to me Effy." Jake pleaded and Effy had to look away from Jake for a moment before she could actually tell him what had happened. Jake knew about none of that, her disappearing act or the fact that Effy frequently snuck out and went on late night all night trips around town. Jake was her best friend, perhaps one of the few people who truly knew Elizabeth Scott on the inside as well as the outside but even then he didn't know everything. Effy was hiding things from him too.

"The night that Lucas played Nathan at the river front to get on the team, I heard our father tell Nathan that he didn't want me, ne had never wanted me. I was standing right behind Dan when he said and I quote if I had wanted a daughter I would have adopted one." Effy revealed but this time she didn't get upset like she did at the garage with Lucas and Keith, as she was the past the sad and weepy phase. Effy was at the angry and majorly pissed of stage. So she couldn't cry even if she wanted to do.

"Effy…"

"Yeah I know it's fucked up Jake as what kind of parent says that? Well that's my dad, Dan Scott is the kind of parents who disowns one of his own sons and says that he never wanted his daughter. I have to live under the same room as that man, I had to hear that he never wanted me Jake and that sucked. I guess being an asshole tends to run in the family as Nathan has clearly inherited it from Dan." Effy spat out in disgust as she kicked a piece of the ground.

"What did Nathan do?" Jake asked.

"Nothing as per usual, Nathan would never do anything as that would mean he would actually have to care. I could die tomorrow and Nathan wouldn't care, he would just be annoyed that any attention would be off him for more than a minute. That's if he actually acknowledged it, him and Dan wouldn't probably even realize anything had happened." Effy grimily replied.

"Is this why your hand is all banged up and why you weren't at school the other day." Jake questioned and Effy glanced down at her still bandaged hand

"Perhaps." Effy feebly admitted as she knew the skateboarding story wouldn't fly with Jake

"Hey… You know that what your dad said was a stupid thing to say and I'm guessing that must have hurt hearing that and Nathan should have done something. But I for one am glad you're here Effy as you matter to me, you know that right?" Jake stated and Effy slowly nodded her head, Jake was one of the few people that actually made Effy feel like she mattered. "I like you so much better than Nathan and your dad is incredibly stupid as who is he not to have wanted you?"

" That's funny, Lucas said the exact same thing." Effy replied, unable to stop herself from wearily laughing.

"Lucas, huh?" Jake questioned as he let go off Effy's shoulders and picked up his bag and the two of them made their way down the car park before stopping right by Effy's jeep. Effy had her own car but she only tended to drive to school and away cheerleading games as she preferred to travel via her skateboard. But the last couple of days she had found herself driving a lot more than usual as it meant she could leave Tree Hill for a while in order to spend less time at home.

"Yeah me and the oldest brother have been bonding over the fact that Dan never wanted either of us and that Nathan is a huge jerk. It's been nice getting to know him you know? I've always wondered what Lucas is like and know I'm starting to get to know him and I'm pretty certain I like him more than Nathan." Effy admitted as she wasn't afraid to say that she preferred one of her brothers over the other as her and Nathan hadn't got on in years and their relationship was just deteriorating over the years. Effy would be surprised if they kept in contact once they had both left for college.

"I'm happy for you Eff," Jake sincerely said.

"Yeah, Lucas seems to be the only decent member of the Scott family here in Tree Hill except for my Uncle Keith. A couple of days ago Keith brought me home and I know he chewed out Dad pretty bad about what had happened, from where I was eavesdropping it almost seemed like Dan felt guilty. But in reality he was only guilty that he had been caught. But that's the Scott family for you, we put the dysfunction in dysfunctional I guess…"

"Have you spoke to your dad about what he said?"

Effy shook her head. "No I haven't spoke to Dan, we haven't really seen each other since the whole he didn't want me thing as I've been avoiding him ever since. After t happened I needed sometime to get my head together before I talked to him as I was too upset to talk to him with out smashing all of my mom's fine china. But I'm going to do it now, I need to do it now. I have to confront Dan about this as we live under the same room and the man is my father, it's not going to be pretty though."

"You want me to come with you?" Jake offered and Effy couldn't help smile, her family drama and craziness never seemed to drive Jake away in the slightest. Any normal sane person would have run to the hill by now but since Jake was Effy's best friend he couldn't be the sanest person in the world or Tree Hill.

"Thanks for the offer but I've got to do this by myself however I'll be round later, no doubt I'll dramatically storm at the house later after Dan or Nathan says something to piss me off. So I'll bring my books over and we can do some studying or something cool with your mom…"

"Well you know I've always got your back Scott, so I'll catch you later." Jake chuckled as he gave Effy a small wave before walking off towards his car. Making her way over to the driver's side of her car, Effy opened the door and chucked her school bag over to the passenger front seat and just before she climbed in she noticed something on the windshield of her car, held down by the wipers. Shutting the door Effy reached over and found that it was a postcard on her windshield, it was a post card of Almond Blossoms, a painting by Vincent Van Gogh done in 1890 of an almond tree in blossom which just so happened to be one of Effy's favourite Van Gogh paintings. Turning the past card over Effy found something was written on it, writing in an all too familiar messy yet somehow neat scrawl the postcard said _"And the tree was happy."_ Effy couldn't help but smile as she had no idea how Jake had the time to do this but he done it, he had made her feel happy for the first time in days. Now she had to go and see her father and have him make her unhappy again…


	5. Chapter 5

Effy didn't exactly go straight home. She had actually gone for a bit of a drive and grabbed some very greasy takeout and ran some simple errands before she went home and when she arrived Effy entered an empty house. Dan was clearly still at work and Nathan was god knows where, which gave Effy time to sort of clear her mind as there was a lot that she needed to say. It was a few hours later when both Dan and Nathan both came home and walked into the kitchen together both of them clearly surprised that Effy was home as for the last couple of days she had barely spent more than two seconds in the same room with them. Effy had spent the bare minimum time at home, only being there to sleep and shower because she didn't want to spend anytime with her family. As Dan and Nathan walked in Effy finally felt ready to confront her father about the comment he had made about her and how he was treating her in general. Effy was no longer going to be a shrinking violet, never confronting Dan about the things he did and doing all these crazy stunts in order to try and get his attention for once. Effy was over it, she was no longer going to vie for her father's attention and approval. If Dan still didn't care after this then Effy wasn't going to dwell on it any longer, she was just going to live her life and be who she was and if Dan had a problem with it or simply didn't care than it wasn't Effy's problem anymore. She was comfortable with who she was and Effy felt good about herself in general and if Dan couldn't open his eyes to see that his daughter was someone who he should pay attention to and be proud of then it just confirmed to Effy that Dan Scott was the bad father that she had suspected him off being.

"Well look whose finally come home…" Dan began.

"I've been home for days Dan, you just haven't realized that I'm spending the minimum time possible here. But then again you never notice when I'm here, too concerned about your neanderthal son standing right next to you." Effy dryly stated and Nathan just glared at Effy who just didn't respond as she knew Nathan didn't even know the meaning of the word neanderthanl. Although Dan was her real main target, it didn't mean that Nathan was exempt as Effy was pissed at him too.

"Effy…"

"I always knew or rather suspected that you loved Nathan more than me and I kind of accepted that for some weird reason, I put it down to the fact that you two are basketball fanatics. But even then I thought that I mattered to you in some weird way and even though you didn't love me as much as Nathan or pay me as much attention that I was important you. But apparently not Dan…" Effy stated in an annoyed tone of voice.

"I already told you that I never meant to say what I had said, it was a very bad joke and I certainly didn't mean for you to hear it–" Dan said in an effort to sound like he had actually meant it but Effy no longer believed anything her father had to say. He had made his feelings pretty clear about everything, how tennis wasn't a real sport and how basketball was the only thing that mattered. Dan had called people all different names under the sun including one of the mother's of his children. Dan Scott liked everyone to believe that he was the good guy but now Effy knew the truth and she would never look at her father in the same way again. No longer did she have the rose tinted glasses on that made her wave off all of her dad's behaviour.

"I don't believe you Dan, as much as you want to tell me that was a joke I know you wouldn't have said that if there wasn't some part of you that didn't mean it Dan. You never wanted me just like you never wanted Lucas. You remember him, don't you Dan? Your first born son who you pretend doesn't exist and act like he's not relevant or a Scott. Well let me you something Dan Scott, you have no right to make people feel that way like they aren't wanted and they don't mean anything. Lucas is a person, he is your son and he matters Dan. There are other people in this world except for you and Nathan and they matter, I matter Dan. I am not something that you can just sweep under the rug and pretend that it doesn't exist until it's convenient for you. I am your daughter and not some spare part that came with Nathan. I'm am person and I have feelings, not that you care!" Effy spat in disgust and Dan attempted to take a step towards her but Effy just took two steps back.

"I care, of course I care Effy you are my daughter." Dan said and Effy just rolled her eyes, she wasn't buying any of this crap for a second. She wasn't that seven year old girl who used to hang onto her father's every word anymore. Effy knew better, the only thing her father knew how to do was lie and manipulate people.

"I'm no parent Dan but even I know that you don't tell your child that you never wanted them! Even if they were an accident or unplanned but you don't seem to get that, it seems like you thrive on making sure you two other children know that they are not wanted and that the apple of your eye in Nathan. You don't care Dan so stop trying to convince me that you do because I don't believe it, none of in this room believe that. You can keep saying that you care about me but you won't be able to convince either me or yourself. At least Nathan has the guts to honestly show his contempt for me, he doesn't go around pretending like he cares about me in the slightest." Effy argued, no matter what Dan tried to say Effy had a response to everything Dan was going to attempt to say to try and wriggle out of this mess. Dan may have thought he was the smartest man in the room but in reality he wasn't, Effy was always two steps ahead of him.

"Elizabeth…"

"You know how I know that you don't care Dan? Because you know absolutely nothing about me. You've never been to any of my tennis games, you don't pay any general attention to my interests or what matters to me. The only reason you know who my best friend is because he plays on the team. It's like I'm a complete stranger living in your house as you nothing about me Dan. Even as a parent you know nothing and you don't pay attention because if you paid the tiniest bit of attention you would know for the last couple of months that I've sneaking out practically every night. You have simply no clue, whilst you thought I was upstairs studying or tucked up in bed, I was the furthest thing from it. I was out every night Dan, doing things that would shock you daddy dearest. It's at the point where I spend ore time sneaking in and out of the house then I do in the house. You are so oblivious Dan then you've never caught on, there have been a couple of close calls but nothing came of that. Although Nate was convinced you'd catch me but I knew that you had your head so far up Nate's ass that you'd never realize what I was doing." Effy revealed with a scoff and the expression on Dan's face was priceless.

"You knew about his?" Dan demanded turning Nathan in disbelief.

"Yeah." Nathan feebly admitted.

"Oh Dan your so stupid and clueless, Nathan has known since mid summer about my little antics and another thing, that beating your car took the other night? I did it…" Effy stated with a small smirk as her father was getting some home truths which he didn't seem to like.

"You did that to my car?" Dan slowly asked

"Yeah I did, I've been also been taking the cars for a show room for a late night spin. I did it because I just wanted you to pay the tiniest bit of attention to me but for some reason no matter what I did you just didn't want to see. You didn't care and you didn't want to care. Do you know what that's like for a sixteen year old girl? For her to know that her dad doesn't care about her in slightest. I lost my virginity in the back of one of your cars which you later sold about a month ago Dan. I did things like that because I wanted to care about me just a tiny bit like your whole world revolves around Nathan. But not anymore, I'm not going to bother to try and get your approval or attention anymore because I've come to realize something Dan. You are a bad father. A terrible one at that and I shouldn't have to be pulling stunts like this to beg for a tiny piece of attention from you Dan… You did this to me Dan but I'm not going to let you do it anymore. If you can't see me for who I am or appreciate me then you don't deserve to have me as your daughter and I certainly won't be calling you dad any longer. I am so much more than the spare past you see me is and I deserve better than that. You said to Nathan that if you hadn't wanted a daughter you would have adopted one, well I have something for you. If I could have chosen my father I wouldn't have chosen you, I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to have you as their father." Effy snapped, she was unable to help herself now as all the negative emotions that Dan had made her feel were all coming out. All the years of self doubt and wanting to be loved not to mention the constant lack of attention and subsequent disappointment. Now Effy was done with Dan, she had said what she needed to say and there had been no crying. She had gotten though this without showing any weakness and for that Effy was proud of herself.

"What the hell have you done?" Dan demanded and Effy just laughed before making her way out of the kitchen. All of this shouting had exhausted her so she wanted to take a long hot shower before crawling into bed. No doubt she was going to sleep like a baby. "Effy, where do you think you are going?"

"You don't care Dan so why bother asking?" Effy retorted as she continued to walk away.

"Get back here Effy I am not done with you!" Dan yelled and Effy actually stopped in her step and turned around. It wasn't because she was scared because she didn't fear Dan, he was a weak coward and bully in her eyes. Effy only stopped because she wanted to push his buttons just a bit more, see if she couldn't make his head explode.

"Kiss my ass Dan. I'm not your beloved golden son Nathan, I don't come running when you snap your fingers or say how high when you say jump. You have no control over me.. I am done with you." Effy replied in a very dismissive tone of voice, now she was very much done with this conversation and Dan, she just wanted to go and have her shower and maybe call Jake before she went to bed. Effy gave her father a condescending wave and smile before walking out of the living room.

"Elizabeth Rose Scott! You will get back here right now young lady and show me so respect, I am your father!" Dan yelled and Effy chuckled in amusement as she walked through the foyer and started up the stairs.

"Respect has to be earned Dan. I don't respect you just like you don't respect me."


	6. Chapter 6

Effy walked through the corridors of Tree Hill high with her backpack slung over one shoulder and her trusty skateboard tucked under her other arm. It was a somewhat beautiful day in North Carolina and Effy was in a somewhat good mood, in fact she was felt even better than that. Effy felt all bright and shiny as if nothing could ever bring her down again, after she tore down Dan and laid some serious home truths on him Effy felt rather liberated. No longer did she feel constricted by the fact that she was overlooked and generally ignored by her father like she was invisible, well aware that he had never wanted her in the first place. Effy had unburdened herself from the constraints that being the daughter of Dan Scott had placed on her ever since she was born, she was no free to do whatever she wanted and today was the start of a brand new Elizabeth Scott. Well technically it was the start of a brand new Effy as no longer Effy be Elizabeth Rose Scott, known commonly as Liz or Effy. From now on she would just be Effy. Just Effy with no last name as she no longer wanted to have the Scott name or people tied to that name weighing her day. Effy was over being oppressed by Dan and trying in desperate vain to get his attention, from now on she was going to be her own person and no longer have her self esteem and self worth torn down by people who were totally irrelevant and no longer mattered.

"Effy? Is that you?"

"Hello Jagelski." Effy replied, greeting her best friend with a bright smile as she took a few more steps closer to him.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" Jake demanded and Effy glanced down briefly at her hair, sure it was a little different then how it had been two days ago but it was no big deal. So what if she had dyed it so was this black and purple colour. The top of her hair was it's usual jet black colour but the further her hair went the coulour subltly changed from black to a dark purple colour, gradually getting more lighter until the tips of Effy's hair was a very pastel purple colour. Effy suspected that Jake would be a tiny bit shocked but not this shocked.

"I dyed it."

"Your mom is going to freak." Jake replied after a moment and Effy just shrugged her shoulders, if she no longer cared what her dad thought why on earth would she care what her mother thought about her hair? Deb was never around and because of that Effy had been left under the lax supervision of Dan who simply didn't care about her. Even when her mother was around, Deb didn't pay Effy as much attention as she did Nathan although Effy had to admit that her mother wasn't as bad as Dan when it came to playing favourites. It didn't matter to Effy whether her family liked her hair because it was none of their concern, it was Effy's hair and she'd do to it whatever the hell she felt like. They had no say over it just like they had no say in her life anymore.

"So?" Effy pointedly questioned as her mother losing her temper over what she had done to Effy did not scare her in the slightest. Effy doubted her mother would even notice the change although Dan had and almost chocked on his coffee this morning.

"Can I ask why?"

"Why? Simply because I could and I wanted to Jake, I was in a real need for a change after what happened with Dan the other day and I figured why not? Might as well change my hair to go along with the changes in my life, mark the start of a new beginning for me." Effy stated as she fingered the ends of her hair.

"Dan's involved? Let me guess, this has something to do with that confrontation you had with him the other day? I have to admit that I was surprised that you didn't come over to my house or at least call and rant about how much of an ass your dad is. So spill Elizabeth, tell me what happened and explain how it all relates to this new hair of yours." Jake pressed and Effy couldn't shelf but not fight off a self assured smirk that was currently plastered all over her face.

"Well I waited until Dan came home from work and it all kind of went from there very quickly. There was a lot of yelling and shouting, mostly from me but Dan chipped in a bit when I laid down the home truths about him being a terrible father but mostly he got angry when I told him that I was the one who vandalized his car amongst other things. I have to admit things were pretty intense but I stuck my ground Jake, I told Dan what I felt and that I mattered despite the fact he couldn't care less about me. I wasn't nice about any of it in the slightest and there was a lot of name calling and I practically told Dan that he was the worst father in the world and so off before rounding off by calling him an ass and telling him that he didn't deserve me. Dan wasn't expecting to hear any of that and the fact that I have no respect for him and refuse to listen to him any longer is driving him nuts and he's doing everything he can to regain some control. Dan attempted to ground me and what not but he's too dumb to realize that I've always been two steps ahead of him." Effy proudly stated, retelling Jake most of what had happened with Dan as there was no way she was telling him about the sneaking out. Or the late night adventures joy riding in her father's car or the whole virginity thing. Jake may be her best friend but Effy knew there was no way she could tell him that stuff. As Jake would certainly make her stop all of that and Effy didn't want to. She liked the chaos of it all.

"So how does the hair play into this?" Jake asked as he leaned forward and touched Effy's hair.

"Well I've given up on Dan and Nathan as well. I don't give damn what they say or think about me anymore as I'm no longer going to have the two of them bring me down and feel like I'm irrelevant. I know that it's not right and I want to start living my own life completely separate from those two. I'm not going to be Dan Scott's daughter or Nathan Scott's twin sister. I realized that what I want matters and that me as a person matters and there is nothing wrong with me and there has never been anything wrong. If Dan and Nathan can't realize that then it's more their problem then it is mine as I'm not going to let them tear me down and make me feel irrelevant as well. I'm done with the inferiority complexes and fighting for a tiny bit of recognition as I know now that I don't need to be anything other than me and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be just Effy and do whatever I want instead of doing what my family want Jake. I want to be my own person and most of all I want to be happy so the hair and everything else I've done and will do is because I can do it. I don't care about making other people happy anymore, all I want to do is make myself happy and I've started to do that by breaking free. All this time I was waiting and hoping that my family would see me and realize how great I am but they haven't and all that time waiting was chipping away at me. Until I realized that I'm not Cinderella or Snow White, I don't need to be waiting around for someone to save me when I'm more than perfectly capable of saving myself and the hair is part of that point. It's me breaking free and standing independent of my crazy family." Effy confidently explained with a wide smile as she no longer felt burdened by her family since she hit them where it hurt. Effy loved the freedom she got by slaying her own demons and finally being able to live her own life.

"Cinderella, eh?" Jake questioned with a small smile.

"You get the point." Effy replied with a quiet chuckle as she gently pushed Jake and moments later the two of them started walking towards the school building as they needed to get a move on as homeroom was going to start in less than ten minutes.

"I'm glad that you feel better after everything, you do seem a lot happier." Jake noted and Effy nodded along in agreement. "How'd Dan and Nathan take the hair? Or have they not seen it yet."

"Oh they have, Dan almost had a heart attack and came close to giving himself third degree burns over breakfast but he didn't say anything at least I don't think he did. I've kind of stopped paying any real attention to him as he's kind of irrelevant to me now and Nathan? Well he called me some kind of drugged up smurf, so I kicked him in the shin and then slashed his tires. Idiot should really know better by now not to piss me off and think he'll get away with it." Effy idly commented with a small chuckle as she thought about this morning's events.

"What is it with you and petty vandalism?" Jake asked with a serious look on his face and Effy could tell he wasn't happy about any of it, he was reacting like Effy had turned into some small time criminal, which she hadn't. She just liked causing damage to things that belonged to her family. Effy thought it was a good release for her anger and it was much better than her actually hitting people.

"Dan and Nathan had it coming as they are both assholes and I hate them, they deserved it Jake and don't pretend like you don't think otherwise. You know as well as I do that they had everything coming after what they've put me though these last few years!" Effy retorted.

"Effy destroying things isn't going to make any of this better, you know that right?"

"I know but it makes me feel better." Effy quipped and Jake didn't seem pleased to hear that and she could see a lecture coming her way.

"Elizabeth…"

"Why are you taking their side in all of this?!" Effy demanded in a very loud tone of voice as she was getting quite annoyed as by the sounds of it, Jake was taking Dan and Nathan's side in this when they were the ones in the wrong. She hadn't exactly done anything wrong and even if she did then the two of them were to blame. They had broken her, tore down her self esteem, made her feel worthless and had made her into someone who was like some kind of lap dog vying for any attention of any kind. Effy was just fighting back and gaining back what they had taken from her.

"I am not taking their side in this." Jake began.

"Yes you are! This isn't my fault, this is all on them and yet you're trying to make me out to be the bad guy in all of this but I'm not Jake! I thought you knew that but all you basketball idiots are all the same!" Effy retorted before deciding that she had enough of talking to Jake and stormed off.

"Effy! Elizabeth!" Jake called out but Effy just ignored him as she went off to find some better non basketball related company, preferably someone without a penis.


	7. Chapter 7

Effy wasn't really sure how that argument with Jake had started she was pretty certain that she had started it and had over reacted over something but that it didn't mean that she was going to find Jake and apologize. She was still annoyed over what had happened although she was feeling marginally better by the end of the school day and even more so after cheerleading practice as she walked with Peyton and Brooke out of the gym well technically Effy was only walking with Peyton as she was giving Brooke a piggy back. It felt nice for Effy to be hanging out with her friends as she hadn't spent some real quality time with them as Brooke was always off doing something, Peyton was dating Nathan which meant the only time Effy would see her was when she wasn't with Nathan and then Effy herself was all over the place doing whatever she wanted to do. Despite the fact Brooke had been bossing them around most of the afternoon, Effy somehow had a great time as any form of exercise tended to put her in a very good mood. Although she knew her seemingly good mood would disappear the moment she stepped into the house but as she reminded herself, Dan and Nathan no longer mattered to her.

"I am loving the dye job Skater girl!" Brook stated referring to Effy by one of the many nicknames she had for her, that particular nickname was because of Effy's fondness for pretty much skateboarding everywhere she went. It often surprised Effy how she, the skateboarder and tennis player was somehow a cheerleader and close friends with the all round popular Brooke Davis. Effy could see why her and Peyton were friends as they weren't the most conventional cheerleaders. But Effy loved them dearly.

"Thanks BD." Effy replied as she had thought that Brooke would hit the roof when she had seen what Effy had done to her hair. But that hadn't happened as Brooke had reacted way differently to what Effy had been expecting and had spent most of the day admiring Effy's hair and playing with it. The only disapproving Brooke had said was that Effy should have dyed the parts of her hair blue instead of purple in order to match their cheerleading uniforms.

"You feel like coming with me to the mall? My wardrobe is in a serious need of an update." Brooke questioned.

"Apparently I'm grounded, as in I can't step one foot outside the door unless I'm going to school." Effy explained as Dan had gone full parental unit after her little tirade at him, it actually made Effy laughed as it was all pointless. Dan may have taken the spark plugs out of her car but Effy didn't need it to get around town most of the time. Despite his best efforts to prevent Effy from sneaking out by putting a lock on her window, she had found a way to bypass the lock not to mention she could sneak out of any part of the house. It was just more convenient for her to sneak out of her bedroom, however she hadn't felt the need to sneak out for a late night trip in a couple of days.

"Like that would stop you." Peyton added and Effy couldn't help but snort in amusement as Peyton did have her there, it was going to take a lot more from Dan to stop Effy from sneaking out the house.

"Doesn't mean Dan's not attempting to." Effy grimly noted just as Jake walked towards the three of them much to Effy's dismay. It had been a rather long day and Effy just wanted to go home and get started on the long to do list that she had waiting for her. Whilst managing to avoid most of the men in her life.

"Hey… Can we talk?" Jake asked.

"I have to get home, I'm grounded and Dan will freak out if I show up late and since he's taken away my car, I'm sort of in a rush." Effy lied as even though she was indeed grounded, Effy was just going to turn up at home when she felt like coming home she didn't respect him as a person nor she did acknowledge his authority over her. Hence why she was not abiding by the conditions of her grounding.

"Then can I give you a ride?"

"Peyton said she'd give me a ride." Effy stated noting the odd look that Peyton was giving her, as Effy had just made all that stuff up as she was content in skating home. She only said that Peyton was giving her a ride as Effy just wanted to Jake to leave so she could go home, she didn't want to talk to him and get into what had happened with the two of them earlier.

"Oh right… Well I'll give you a call later then Eff." Jake wearily said, giving Effy a small smile before talking away and Effy tried to ignore the look that Peyton was giving her, clearly she was picking up in the weird vibe going on between Effy and Jake.

"What was that about?"

"We had a fight. I don't really want to talk about it." Effy said as she resumed walking again, pausing momentarily to shift Brooke higher up on her back.

"Why would you get into a fight with something like that? Jake Jagelski is looking seriously hot today." Brooke stated in a cool tone of voice.

"Brooke… What have I told you about that kind of stuff?" Effy questioned as this was typical Brooke behaviour, she was sort of boy crazy and a good looking boy never seemed to get by without Brooke noticing. Normally Effy was fine with it and she encouraged it a lot of the time and some days her and Brooke went to the mall under the pretense of going shopping to actually go and check out boys instead. But Jake wasn't most boys, he was different and as such Effy treated him differently and she wasn't too fond of Brooke and any of the other cheerleaders making comments about how good looking he was. Effy had made it clear to all of them that there was a line when it came to Jake and they were not allowed to cross it.

"So I can't point out that your bestie is looking particularly fine today?" Brooke asked and Effy sighed in exasperation, she found this stuff weird to talk about because Jake was her best friend and she wasn't supposed to look at him in that kind of way. But even Effy was blind or stupid, she was very much aware that her best friend was very handsome but that was as far as it was going to get.

"I told you he's off limits." Effy stated.

Why?" Brooke questioned and Effy didn't really have an answer for it as she had always told the girls that Jake was off limits just because she could. There was no actual reason that Effy could give as to why she was so adamant that none of the cheerleaders could date Jake. Effy could see that Peyton was waiting for an answer and she could practically feel Brooke burning a hole into the back of her head in anticipation of an answer.

"Because I said so, that's why." Effy feebly replied in a rather adamant tone, so it wasn't the greatest of answer. But it really didn't matter as long as Effy stated that Jake was off limits, none of the other girls would try anything with him. It was one of those girl code things and no one broke those rules, well they tried not to.

"Why are you so defensive about Jake?" Peyton asked in a teasing tone of voice.

"I am not!" Effy retorted and then she realized that she had just proven Peyton's point but that response. Effy just couldn't help herself as there was something about Jake that brought out this side of her, he was her best friend. Probably the one person who knew Effy as best as anyone could. He had seen her smile, seen her cry and was the person that Effy cared about most in the world. Effy's relationship with her family was quite strenuous to say the least and she wasn't that fond of them to begin with but Jake? He was different and Effy always found that he seemed to bring out the best side in her and Effy knew that Jake was pretty much the only normal thing she had in her rather insane life which made Effy realize that she was going to have to apologize.

"Yes you are Effy and I can see why you'd want to keep him all to yourself." Brooke squeaked. "He's just a boy and you're just a girl…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Effy questioned.

"It means all work and no play is going to make Lizzy Scott a very boring girl and you might want to consider having some with Jake, if you know what I mean." Brooke stated and Effy just rolled her eyes at her friend's insinuation

"I know exactly what you mean Brooke and you can just forget about it as Jake and I are just friends and that's it. Nothing more and nothing less, end of story." Effy stated, this wasn't the first time that had someone had asked her about what was going on with her and Jake. A lot of people were convinced that was more to the two of them that met the eye and Effy was used to denying as such. For some reason people found it hard to believe that a boy and a girl could be such close friends like Effy and Jake without anything else going on.

"Are you really telling us that you've not even thought about going there with Jake?" Peyton skeptically questioned.

"I'm not blind, trust me when I say I am well aware of how good looking Jake is and how much of a good person he is. Jake is the most warm hearted person I know and he is everything to me and more. I know he'd make a very good boyfriend and the idea has flittered through my mind occasionally, I think more often back when I was fourteen but it's not something that will ever happen. I don't want to risk what the two of us have." Effy replied, she knew how much of a great guy Jake was and the idea of them together was a nice thought but it was never going to happen as boys like Jake did not date girls like here who were complete wrecks with inferiority complexes and major daddy issues.


End file.
